Why were the Pharisees consistently depicted as the bad guys in the Christian gospels?

Guno צְבִי

Guno צְבִי

We fight, We win, Am Yisrael Chai
The gospel writers were writing what today would be called fanfiction.

And stories need conflict.

And conflict needs a villain.

They needed a reason for all the things Jesus promised would happen and didn’t happen.

The Jews fit the role perfectly. 99% of them rejected the messianic claims of Jesus and his followers.

So they MUST be evil.

Then, since the Jews were mostly wiped out by the time the Gospels were written, not a lot of people in Judea had much contact with them.

And what they heard about Jews and Judaism was distorted and twisted by Roman propaganda.

You would never know it from reading the "New Testament", but in the early first century there were two main kinds of Pharisees: the school of Shammai and the school of Hillel.

Broadly speaking, the school of Shammai was punctilious about observing the fine points of Jewish law; they were strict and unforgiving. The school of Hillel was more laid back, more lenient, more accommodating to human weakness.

Modern Rabbinical Judaism is largely descended from Pharasaism, and from the school of Hillel in particular, the Sadducees having largely disappeared with the Temple in the wake of the Jewish War of 66–73.


In the xtians bible Mark, the Pharisees don’t just represent Pharisees. They represent a Jewish faction within Christianity. Evidently James in particular insisted that Gentiles become Jews as part of the process of becoming Christians, and that they should comply with the Jewish laws.

The requirement of circumcision especially was a real deal-killer for potential converts among the Gentiles targeted by Paul’s marketing. Paul sought to eliminate this requirement, along with others, at least within his ministry.

By the time Mark was being written in the 70’s, James and Paul were both long gone, but there remained a schism between the Gentile-friendly Christianity of Paul’s churches and the Judaized Christianity among the spiritual descendants of the Jerusalem church. The author of Mark belonged to the Pauline faction, and slanted his narrative accordingly.
 

1. The Gospels Use the Pharisees as Narrative Foils to Jesus​

The Gospels depict the Pharisees as:
  • “nitpicky enforcers of Jewish scriptures”
  • obsessed with the letter of the law rather than its spirit
  • hypocrites who “strain out a gnat but swallow a camel”
This is especially concentrated in Matthew 23, where Jesus unleashes the “seven woes” against them.
This literary framing makes them the perfect ideological contrast to Jesus’ message of mercy, justice, and inner righteousness.

🧩 2. The Gospels Were Written After Conflict Between Early Christians and Pharisaic Judaism​

By the time the Gospels were written (70–100 CE), the Pharisees had become the dominant group shaping Rabbinic Judaism after the destruction of the Temple.
Early Christians and Pharisees were competing for:
  • authority
  • interpretation of scripture
  • the future direction of Judaism
As Amy‑Jill Levine notes, the negative portrayal reflects later polemics, not the historical reality of the Pharisees themselves.

🧩 3. The Pharisees Were Actually Respected Teachers in Jewish Society​

Historically, the Pharisees were:
  • flexible interpreters of Torah
  • egalitarian in status
  • living among the people rather than withdrawing to sectarian communities
  • known for simple living and ethical teaching
Jewish tradition sees them as the ancestors of Rabbinic Judaism, not villains.
The Gospel stereotype — hypocritical, elitist, legalistic — is a later Christian construction.

🧩 4. Some Pharisees Supported Jesus and the Early Movement​

Even the Gospels and Acts acknowledge:
  • Jesus had followers who were Pharisees
  • Paul himself was a Pharisee
  • Some Pharisees defended early Christians in the Sanhedrin
The HowStuffWorks article notes that Jesus “had friends (and followers) who were Pharisees”.
This complicates the simplistic “bad guy” image.

🧩 5. The Gospels Exaggerate Conflict for Dramatic and Theological Purposes​

The Gospels often show Pharisees:
  • plotting against Jesus
  • trying to trap him
  • persecuting early Christians
These scenes heighten drama and reinforce the message that Jesus represents a new, superior interpretation of God’s will.
BibleHub’s topical summary highlights how the Gospels depict Pharisees as persecutors and conspirators, including plotting Jesus’ death.

🧩 6. Modern Scholars Warn Against Taking the Gospel Portrayal Literally​

Amy‑Jill Levine emphasizes that:
  • demonizing the Pharisees is “bad history”
  • it has fueled centuries of antisemitic stereotypes
  • the real Pharisees were ethical, community‑oriented teachers
The Gospel portrayal is theological rhetoric, not a neutral historical account.

📘 In Short​

The Pharisees are depicted as “the bad guys” in the Gospels because:
ReasonExplanation
Narrative contrastThey serve as foils to Jesus’ teachings
Post‑70 CE conflictEarly Christians and Pharisees were rival Jewish movements
Theological polemicGospel authors emphasized conflict to define Christian identity
Historical simplificationReal Pharisees were diverse, respected, and not uniformly opposed to Jesus
Later interpretationCenturies of Christian teaching amplified the negative ima

www.justplainpolitics.com/whats-new/posts/1392451/
 
The Pharisees were a prominent, influential Jewish sect during Second Temple Judaism (c. 2nd century BCE–1st century CE) known for their strict adherence to the Torah (written law) plus oral traditions (Halakha), emphasizing personal piety, priestly purity for all Jews, and belief in resurrection and an afterlife, forming the foundation of Rabbinic Judaism after the Temple's destruction in 70 CE.

Comprising middle-class laypeople and scribes, they differed from Sadducees (aristocrats, Temple priests) by valuing popular observance and oral law, often clashing with Jesus over interpretations but including followers like Nicodemus and Paul.
 

Ancient Jewish History: Pharisees, Sadducees & Essenes​


Of the various factions that emerged under Hasmonean rule, three are of particular interest: the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes.​

The Pharisees​

The most important of the three were the Pharisees because they are the spiritual fathers of modern Judaism. Their main distinguishing characteristic was a belief in an Oral Law that God gave to Moses at Sinai along with the Torah. The Torah, or Written Law, was akin to the U.S. Constitution in the sense that it set down a series of laws that were open to interpretation. The Pharisees believed that God also gave Moses the knowledge of what these laws meant and how they should be applied. This oral tradition was codified and written down roughly three centuries later in what is known as the Talmud.

 
The Pharisees in the New Testament seem to have been a literary foil to illustrate the concept of moral righteousness versus focusing on following ceremonial or civil rules.

I never got the impression that the lesson being taught were that all Pharisees were bad people. The founder of Christianity was a Pharisee, and there is no indication Paul ever stopped being a Torah-observant Jew. Nicodeemus and other Pharisees are presented as sympathetic characters in the NT. I don't know if Joseph of Arimathea was a Pharisee, but I suspect he was and he clearly was in the Sanhedrin leadership.

Of the various Jewish sects at the time, the Pharisees were actually probably closest to Jesus in terms of beliefs about salvation and the afterlife.
 
Nothing in judaism on original sin. The term “original sin” is unknown to the Jewish Scriptures, and the xtian Church’s teachings on this doctrine are antithetical to the core principles of the Torah and its prophets. Humans enter the world pure, with the ability to choose either good or evil via their free will. All people have a place in the world to come No literal hell to have salvation from just separation from God-.

Reading paul it seems he wasn't a well read or knowledgable Torah Jew
 
Guno צְבִי said:
The gospel writers were writing what today would be called fanfiction.

And stories need conflict.

And conflict needs a villain.
Click to expand...
Simpler than that.

The Pharisees were the ruling priests in the Hebrew community. They had strayed and sought power only to themselves.
When Christ came along, He pointed out their hypocrisy and how they had deviated from the gospel.

Because Christ's acceptance as King threatened their power base, the Pharisees sought to destroy Christ.
 
Cypress said:
The Pharisees in the New Testament seem to have been a literary foil to illustrate the concept of moral righteousness versus focusing on following ceremonial or civil rules.

I never got the impression that the lesson being taught were that all Pharisees were bad people. The founder of Christianity was a Pharisee, and there is no indication Paul ever stopped being a Torah-observant Jew. Nicodeemus and other Pharisees are presented as sympathetic characters in the NT. I don't know if Joseph of Arimathea was a Pharisee, but I suspect he was and he clearly was in the Sanhedrin leadership.

Of the various Jewish sects at the time, the Pharisees were actually probably closest to Jesus in terms of beliefs about salvation and the afterlife.
Click to expand...
you're a fucking idiot.

that's why you didn't get the lesson.

yes the pharisees were bad people. this is just being able to read a dramatic narrative.

but not all Jews are bad people, and not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Gaza babies are terrorists.
 
Into the Night said:
Simpler than that.

The Pharisees were the ruling priests in the Hebrew community. They had strayed and sought power only to themselves.
When Christ came along, He pointed out their hypocrisy and how they had deviated from the gospel.

Because Christ's acceptance as King threatened their power base, the Pharisees sought to destroy Christ.
Click to expand...
yes.

and that makes them the villains in the narrative.

but this is not "Jew hate".

not all Jews are power seeking murderers, but some are.
 
Freddy Figbottom said:
the pharisees were bad people!
Click to expand...
The founder of Christianity was a Pharisee, and there is no indication Paul ever stopped being a Torah-observant Jew. He just told gentiles they didn't have to follow the Torah law.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee.

Joseph of Aramathea probably was too.

In a certain real sense, the Pharisees were closer to Jesus' belief than the Sadducces, Essenes, or Zealots.
 
cypress's faced when he realizes how stupid and dumb the pro-zionism case is.
Cypress said:
The founder of Christianity was a Pharisee, and there is no indication Paul ever stopped being a Torah-observant Jew. He just told gentiles they didn't have to follow the Torah law.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee.

Joseph of Aramathea probably was too.

In a certain real sense, the Pharisees were closer to Jesus' belief than the Sadducces, Essenes, or Zealots.
Click to expand...
yes. we know.

you side with evil.
 
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